Penn State's Transfer Portal Strategy? Patience
Until Sunday night, Penn State had been relatively quiet in the NCAA Transfer Portal. Then Kent State receiver Dante Cephas announced that he's joining the Lions' roster, marking the type of targeted splash James Franklin seeks.
Cephas, who caught 48 passes for 744 yards at Kent State last season, represents the portal signings Penn State pursues: players who fill needs while fitting the culture. It also underscored how Penn State's portal strategy has been trending toward patience.
Coach James Franklin said in December that the program will target multiple players through the portal, particularly at receiver and offensive tackle. But before Cephas' announcement, the Lions had signed just three players from the portal, two of whom are kicking specialists.
Why the deliberate start? Basically, Penn State isn't going to tie the portal and NIL into a free-agent cocktail by bidding big on transfers. The program will use NIL initiatives largely to benefit the current roster and retain players. Athletic Director Patrick Kraft outright said Penn State won't throw around gobs of money outside the program.
"We're going to do it on the up-and-up and make sure this is the way it should be," Kraft said. "It's really the coaches that have to make that plea. We're just not going to come and try to pay you to come here."
Penn State in January welcomed three transfers to the program. Storm Duck, an all-ACC cornerback from North Carolina, enrolled in January, as did punter Riley Thompson from Florida Atlantic. The Lions also added walk-on kicker Alex Felkins from Columbia, who joined the program before starter Jake Pinegar announced he would enter the NFL Draft.
Penn State's targeted use of the transfer portal has paid dividends recently, from defensive linemen Arnold Ebiketie and Derrick Tangelo to cornerback Johnny Dixon to receiver Mitchell Tinsley to punter Jordan Stout.
But as Franklin said before the Rose Bowl, Penn State will not be a "huge portal team." Franklin considers the cultural fit as important as the roster fit.
"Once you commit to being a huge portal team, then you almost have to do it every year," Franklin said. "For me, it has more to do with the developmental aspect of our program and the ton of respect that I have for the players in our program. For us, a lot of times we’re just trying to solve issues, very similar to what people used to do back in the day with junior colleges."
An hour after the Rose Bowl, Penn State received a commitment from former North Carolina State receiver Devin Carter. Nine days later, Carter chose West Virginia instead.
So Penn State continued to evaluate portal receivers, notably Cephas, who has been on its radar for some time. On3 ranked Cephas as the No. 9 receiver in the transfer portal. According to 247Sports' Brian Dohn, Cephas will continue taking classes at Kent State this spring before enrolling at Penn State.
Former Kent State receiver Dante Cephas, who caught 48 passes last season, will join Penn State's roster as a transfer player.
Lisa Scalfaro/USA Today Sports
In the meantime, the Lions will continue looking. Though the first portal window closes Jan. 18, a second window is open from April 15-30.
That period coincides with the end of spring drills and the academic calendar, when more players will become available. Penn State is taking a long view to its portal opportunities, understanding that April's window will bring more contributors.
Yet Penn State will remain judicious, as will its NIL collectives. Representatives from two key collectives, Lions Legacy Club and Success With Honor, said their priority is player retention. However, demonstrating NIL success with current players could become a recruiting tool.
"We're not going out and promising crazy contracts or anything like that," said Chris Ganter, executive director of Lions Legacy Club. "We're not having any conversations like that. It’s about building that foundation and taking care of the financial well being and business mindset of these players who are here.
"The other piece of it is to bring legitimate deals and value to them. If we treat them like they’re part of our family — which to Michael [Mauti] and I they are, these guys are like brothers to us and we genuinely have their best interests in mind and take of them — there will be a trickle-down effect. And that will be something that every kid around the country will know about."
Added Jason Belzer, whose company Student Athlete NIL operates Success With Honor, "The name of the game right now is retention. How do you retain these kids? [Penn State has] such a young, talented roster with a dynamic running back duo. The last thing you want is somebody like LSU or Alabama to come in and say, 'I'm going to pay you a million dollars to come down to SEC country.'"
So far, Penn State's retention efforts have been exceptional. Of the 12 players who entered the portal, none has been a full-time starter.
Three running backs, the latest being former starter Keyvone Lee, entered the portal after freshmen Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen arrived on campus. Quarterback Christian Veilleux, who was No. 3 on the depth chart last season, left for Pitt. Cornerback Marquis Wilson, who also played receiver, entered the transfer portal Monday.
Other players were reserves. Further, defensive end Davon Townley told 247Sports' Allen Trieu that he would return to Penn State after entering the portal in December.
Penn State certainly has to be aggressive in the portal. As Belzer estimated, it's a $250 million market for players. "There are schools that are equipped to take advantage of that," Belzer said, "and there are schools that are not."
Penn State was No. 63 in On3's transfer portal rankings before Cephas' announcement, which doesn't represent the team's approach fully. Franklin intends to be a transfer portal player — but within his philosophy.
"Under the current college football model, you could make the argument that it's maybe harder than it's ever been to manage your roster, unless you're willing to live and die in the transfer portal," Franklin said. "For us, at this stage of the game, we're looking at the transfer portal probably in a way like a lot of schools 15 years ago used to look at junior college: that you'd go to junior college to solve an immediate issue, to buy some time.
"You may have a young player who is going to be really good but isn't ready from game one. And for us, that's kind of been our approach."
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